Revived fly-half could be a contender for England's revised January squads if
he maintains his current form for Sale

Danny Cipriani will have the chance to press his claims for a return to the international fold as the rejuvenated fly-half prepares for Sale’s Premiership fixture against London Irish on Friday night.

Despite the fact that it is five years since Cipriani won the last of his seven England caps, his recent resurgence at club level has pushed him back into the spotlight.

There are several other fly-halves in contention for a place in the revised England squads, senior and Saxons, to be named in early January.

Exeter’s exciting 20-year-old Henry Slade has acquitted himself well over the past fortnight against two of the world’s pre-eminent talents in Toulon’s Jonny Wilkinson and former Wallaby Matt Giteau.

Bath’s George Ford continues to impress, while Freddie Burns of Gloucester battles to keep his standards high as his team face difficulties. However, with the continuing uncertainty over the long-term future of Leicester’s Toby Flood, who is pondering a move to France, a decision that would effectively rule him out of international consideration.

Cipriani has to continue to perform if he is to break back into the second-tier Saxons squad. After such a troubled few years, leading to self-imposed exile in Australia, it is heartening for him to realise that even though he still has much ground to make up, he is at least attracting attention again.

A key factor has been his attitude. Cipriani has been found wanting in the past, falling out of favour with Martin Johnson, the former England head coach, and then getting caught up in a number of issues during his time with Melbourne Rebels.

Stuart Lancaster, the England head coach, sets great store by behaviour and will not tolerate any divergence from the team’s well-established cultural practices. As much as he will want to learn about Cipriani’s defensive ability, an Achilles heel in the past, he will also want to be assured that the player is prepared to commit wholly to the cause. Lancaster has coached Cipriani at Saxons level and knows all about his frailties as well as his strengths.

Certainly Steve Diamond, the Sale director of rugby, does not suffer prima donnas. Cipriani has galvanised himself after a tricky start at the club he joined in the summer of 2012. This time last year he was taken to task by John Mitchell, the former All Black coach, who was on a short-term consultancy at Sale, for his poor tackling.

At his best, Cipriani brings sharp attacking intent to a team. His distribution is good, as is his vision. He can also be erratic, however, and England will need to see if there is greater maturity and consistency in his game.

There is no doubt that Cipriani is an outsider in the race for inclusion. There are several others ahead of him in the pecking order, players with credit in the Lancaster account, less high profile figures such as, for example, Northampton’s worthy operator, Stephen Myler.

It is also clear that there is an exciting crop of emerging talent with Ford and Slade showing the potential to make their mark at senior level for many years to come.

Cipriani has it all to do if he is to top any of them.

England have other selection issues over the festive period ahead of the Jan 9 announcement of the Elite Player Squad, namely at wing and centre.

There is an option for England to consider pairing Northampton’s Luther Burrell with Billy Twelvetrees of Gloucester. Both are inside centres by inclination but in the injury-enforced absence of Leicester’s Manu Tuilagi and Saracens’ Joel Tomkins, Burrell’s continuing robust form for his club has appealed in tandem with the more creative touch of Twelvetrees.

The pairing would not be a classic inside and outside centre partnership, but a blend based on different game situations and positions in a match.

Although, England have been bedevilled by injury, there is little need for them to tamper too much with the senior EPS squad named six months ago. Several of those who are currently on the sidelines, such as Leicester back-row forward Tom Croft, will not be available until late in the season. However, Croft is poised to be fit ahead of the tour to New Zealand and therefore has to be named in the EPS squad in January.

England, though, will have to make immediate changes to that EPS squad in mid-January before they gather for a two-week camp prior to the 2014 RBS Six Nations, which begins with a trip to Paris to face France on Feb 1.

That squad will be for the championship and could feature the likes of Gloucester wing Jonny May, or even Exeter’s Jack Nowell, as Lancaster considers who to call up to replace the injured wings, Marland Yarde of London Irish and Wasps’ Christian Wade.

Others in the running for either the senior or Saxons squads over the coming weeks include Leicester lock Graham Kitchener, wing Miles Benjamin, Bath full-back/wing Anthony Watson, Exeter centre Sam Hill and Saracens hooker Jamie George.